


The Rules of Hearsay (And Its Exceptions)

by QuoteIntangible



Category: Pierce the Veil, Sleeping With Sirens
Genre: Alternate Universe - High School, And he can be a jerk sometimes, Bullying, F/M, M/M, Reposted from before, Self-Esteem Issues, Tony is the adopted younger brother of Vic, Tony is very protective of Vic, but he means well, lots of fluff, mentions of cutting, tiny bit of violence
Language: English
Status: In-Progress
Published: 2017-12-06
Updated: 2018-02-25
Packaged: 2019-02-11 05:18:52
Rating: Teen And Up Audiences
Warnings: No Archive Warnings Apply
Chapters: 3
Words: 9,066
Publisher: archiveofourown.org
Story URL: https://archiveofourown.org/works/12928326
Author URL: https://archiveofourown.org/users/QuoteIntangible/pseuds/QuoteIntangible
Summary: "In retrospect, after Tony matured a little and lost some (not all) of the hero worship he held for his brother, Vic and Kellin's relationship made perfect sense."Or the super awesome high school AU following the ups and downs of Kellin and Vic's relationship over the years featuring all of my favorite cliches (and none of the ones I hate, like cheating) told entirely from Tony's POV, who is Vic's adopted younger brother in this story.





	1. Chapter 1

**Author's Note:**

> You may have seen this story posted before. I took it down and replaced Mike with Tony as the main character. If you've heard the news, you know why I have decided to do this. "If I Ever Leave this Maze Alive" takes precedence over this story, so updates may be slow for a bit. However, I do have the first few chapters or so written and I have many other parts of it written down in my journals as I have been working on this story for about a year now.

Vic and Kellin’s relationship baffled Tony. Nothing about it made any sense to him. Kellin was nearly two years younger than Vic, younger than Tony even though they were in the same grade, and had been known as ‘the weird kid’ since the day he first showed up at Clairemont High a quarter way through sophomore year. He talked to no one, always kept his head down, and if he wasn’t wearing a hat, then the hood of his sweatshirt was pulled down low enough to cover his eyes until a teacher yelled at him to uncover his head.

 _“He’s just shy_ ,” Vic explained to him when his older brother brought Kellin home with them after school for the first time to hang out, and Tony pulled Vic aside, asking why he invited the  _weird kid_  over.

To be honest, though, Tony wasn’t entirely sure why everyone thought of Kellin as the weird kid. Someone else had given him the name, and Tony had never actually talked to him enough to confirm or deny the truth of that statement.

He told himself Vic befriended Kellin because Vic was a good guy, and that’s just what he did. He stood up for people and was never a silent by-stander. That was one of the major reasons Tony always looked up to him.

If he was really, truly being honest with himself, though, and looked past the pedestal he’d placed his older brother on, Tony knew Vic was just lonely and looking for a friend like him. The film of admiration he’d wrapped his older brother in wouldn’t let Tony see it, but there was always a niggling feeling in the back of his mind that Vic just didn’t fit in at their school, not like Tony did, and that the other kids bullied him for it. This same ignorance let him forget most of the time that Vic struggled with perfectionism and could be overly sensitive to others’ criticisms at times, and at one point in time turned to self-harm to deal with his problems.

That was not the Vic  _Tony_ saw, though. When his parents died in a car crash when he was just 4-years old, the Fuentes family, who were best friends with his parents, took Tony in and adopted him. The day Tony had been welcomed in their home, a very serious 6-yeard-old Vic sat him down and said he was Tony’s brother now, that he would always be Tony’s brother, and that no matter what Tony did, Vic would always be there for him. Vic promised to always protect him, and in those moments Tony admired him and never stopped. Tony saw the confidence in his older brother. He saw a kind, caring older brother who was a genius at music. He chose to ignore the parts of his brother that didn’t fit into this ideal vision Tony had created of him.

He never meant to hurt anyone by doing so, but Tony saw Vic as this awesome, amazing human being, and just assumed everyone else did, too.

In retrospect, after he matured a little and lost some (not all) of the hero worship he held for his brother, Kellin and Vic’s relationship made perfect sense. But hindsight is 20-20, and it would take some time for Tony to realize he was being a complete, utter, and absolute jerk.

*

Tony complained a lot about Kellin at first.  _Is he really coming over again? Why does he have to spend so much time here? Why are you two even friends?_  Vic was in college now, and he assumed that since Kellin was still in high school with Tony the two would drift apart and stop spending so much time together. Instead, they spent _more_  time together, which was nonsensical in his opinion. Even worse, his friends saw Kellin leaving while they were hanging out at his place, and a few of them made fun of him for hanging out with the weird kid.

 

Vic never snapped at him when he complained. Just shook his head and gave him  _the look._ It was  _the look_ of disappointment that was far more effective than the ones his mother and father gave him. Vic perfected it at just 10 years old when Tony took a dare from some of the local neighborhood kids and ended up breaking his arm. It was  _the look_  that made Tony feel both guilty and like a 5-year-old caught misbehaving every time. “ _If you got to know him, you’d like him,”_ Vic would say.

Tony saw zero chances of that happening. He wasn’t that popular, but he did have a reputation for being the tough, bad boy of the school and people generally left him alone (just the way he liked it) because of it. Talking to other people, especially half the idiots at his school, was not exactly a task he enjoyed. He liked his reputation. He didn’t want to ruin it by associating with the weird kid and have people suddenly think he was, god forbid, approachable. So he continued to complain about Kellin constantly coming over to spend time with Vic, and Vic constantly begged Tony to just give him a chance.

Somehow finding out they were more than just friends made it worse.

It was definitely not his fault how he found out. He was totally, 100% fault-free, he swears. He had a date, okay, a very important date with a very pretty girl named Felicia, and his favorite shirt was nowhere to be found.

“Where’s my favorite shirt, bitch?” Tony asked, and barged into Vic’s room without knocking, because his brother had stolen it once - though he claimed their Mama put it in his drawer by mistake – determined to empty everything in Vic’s closet and drawers until he found it.

It was a very lucky shirt, okay? He  _needed_ it.

Instead of his intended plan, he stood frozen in the door as Vic and Kellin hastily broke apart, but not quick enough for Tony to not get an eye full of his brother straddling Kellin on his bed, their lips practically glued together.

“Oh my God,” Tony said, shielding his eyes, as Kellin slipped out from underneath Vic, and his brother scrambled off the bed.

“Have you ever heard of knocking? Jesus, Tony.”

“Oh my God,” Tony repeated. “You’re fucking the weird kid? Is that why you spend so much time with him? To get into his pants?”

Vic’s eyes narrowed as he stormed to his feet. “Outside, now,” he commanded, shoving Tony out of his room, following him out, and shutting the door behind him. “How dare you,” Vic said before Tony could get another word in. “Kellin is not just some guy I want to fuck. I really like him and you’re ruining it for me. I swear to God if you scare him away I will end you,” Vic said, jabbing him in the chest.

Tony may have had a few inches on his brother at this point, and was still growing, much to Vic’s chagrin. But Vic’s revenge, if he so desired, would not be physical. No, somehow Tony’s favorite stuffed animal or signed vintage record would accidentally end up destroyed, or his guitars would all have broken strings and the replacements all missing. Or, God forbid, Vic would ‘accidentally’ spill ink all over Tony’s favorite shirt, forever ruining it. It did not happen often, but Vic could be downright terrifying when he wanted to be.

“And don’t ever call Kellin the weird kid again,” Vic hissed. “Got it?”

Dumbfounded, Tony nodded. Vic almost never got this angry with him, never. He was shocked into silence.

Vic stormed back into his room, just as Tony said, “Wait, Vic, my shirt!”

The door slammed shut in his face.

Something told Tony his brother wasn’t going to come back through that door any time soon with his shirt.

Fortunately, the date with Felicia went well despite not having his lucky shirt.

Unfortunately for him, he couldn’t shake the guilt he felt for treating his brother’s … whatever … like dirt.

*

The first time Tony saw Kellin as an actual human being instead of his label as the weird kid (that Tony still wasn’t clear how the other teen acquired) was the day Vic made a mistake that Tony, in his torrid faithfulness and blind ignorance, assumed Vic wasn’t capable of making anymore.

He liked to forget about the day he discovered Vic self-harmed, forget about all the times he found fresh cuts on his brother’s arms, forget about the day he finally got Vic to stop shortly before Kellin came into their lives. Vic was infallible; his strong, confident, awesome older brother who didn’t need that method of coping anymore. 

So when his brother came home early one afternoon clearly extremely upset when Tony thought he was supposed to be out late on a date with Kellin, he thought nothing of it. He asked, “are you all right?” In which he got a mumbled reply of ‘yes’ before Vic locked himself in the upstairs bathroom. Tony left it at that. Surely Vic knew if he wanted to talk then Tony was there for him like Vic was always there for him. When Vic didn’t come out of the bathroom for a very long time, Tony still thought nothing of it.

Until Kellin showed up at their front door, chest heaving, cheeks puffy and red, and a wild frantic look in his eyes, asking, “Where is he?”

“Upstairs in the bathroom,” Tony said, confused. “What’s going on?”

Kellin brushed past him, and ran up the stairs.

Curious, Tony followed. He watched Kellin barge into the bathroom without so much as knocking. “Shit, Vic,” he heard him hiss. As Tony rounded the corner, he found out why.

Kellin held Vic’s left arm gently in his grasp, and on that arm Tony could see blood running down his brother’s skin and splattering on the off-white tiles below.

“What the fuck?” Tony said, rushing to the door. “What did you do to yourself?”

“I’m sorry. I’m sorry,” Vic frantically said, yanking his arm out of Kellin’s grasp and hiding it against his chest.

“Vic,” Tony angrily said, gearing up for an epic rant, when Kellin shoved him out of the doorway and slammed the door in his face.

Stunned into silence by the weird kid’s sudden boldness, Tony could just make out their conversation.

“Let me see, Vic, please,” he heard Kellin’s muffled voice come through the door. Vic mumbled a response too low to be heard. “I’m not mad. I promise. I’m not going to yell at you.”

“I didn’t mean to cut so deep. I’m sorry. It was an accident.”

“I know, babe. I know,” Kellin soothed. Tony heard the tap running, and the sounds of shuffling, before Kellin’s concerned voice said, “Vic, those are deep. You’re going to need stitches.”

Though Tony heard no response, Vic must have replied because a moment later Kellin said, “I know, Vic, but you’re an adult now. They can’t make you do anything you don’t want to. All right? Let’s wrap these up, and I’ll drive you.”

Tony hovered at the door with his arms crossed, using his height to his advantage as the door finally swung open to tower over the both of them. Vic was curled in on himself, arm pressed to his chest, Kellin’s hat on his head, and eyes glued to the floor while Kellin led him out of the bathroom with a hand on the small of his back.

Tony fully intended to start yelling once more, but Kellin cut him off … again. “Go wait for me in the car,” Kellin said to Vic, watching him wonder off like a kicked puppy before turning his full attention to Tony. “Don’t,” Kellin heatedly whispered to him. “You know how hard he is on himself. No one is beating himself up about this more than Vic is right now. He doesn’t need you yelling at him,” Kellin said, and for the first time since he arrived his calm exterior cracked, revealing tears in his eyes. “Why don’t you give yourself some time to calm down, and then meet us at the hospital. Or wait here if you want.”

Kellin composed his features, wiped the tears from his eyes, and walked away without giving Tony a chance to respond.

He spent the next ten minutes cursing at Kellin, calling him every bad word he knew, before he finally calmed down and realized maybe,  _maybe_ Kellin was right. Vic put a lot of pressure on himself to be the perfect son, the perfect student, the perfect brother, the perfect everything. Tony let himself get so caught up in the fake persona Vic projected that everything was fine and dandy that he often forgot his brother struggled just like the rest of them.

 

Tony spent the next ten minutes feeling sorry for himself after that. He could be a shit person sometimes. It’s not like he  _meant_  to be a dick, honest. Most of the time he honestly thought he was doing the right thing, it just often ended up blowing up in his face for some reason. 

After his little pity party, Tony finally borrowed Vic’s car and drove to the hospital. Vic was always there for him, always looking out for him, and he wanted to return the favor. As his anger at Kellin vanished, and he moved past his own pity, he felt grateful Vic had someone like Kellin to look out for him. Kellin wasn’t the type of person who stood up for himself. Tony had seen him get bullied a few times at school and each time Tony never saw Kellin fight back. But apparently there was one person he was willing to stand up for if not himself:

Vic.

The thought briefly cheered him up, before sending him crashing back into a self-imposed pity party. Vic was right. Tony had been too harsh on Kellin, too quick to judge the weird ki— Kellin. He handled the situation far better than Tony did, and was willing to piss Tony off just to protect Vic.

Anyone that treated his brother that way, the way he deserved, was pretty cool in Tony’s book.  

*

It took forever to convince a nurse to let him into the ER to see his brother. He argued with the nurse for 20 minutes on why he wasn’t too young to be let into the ER unsupervised before she finally grew tired of him and led him to see his brother.

As he rounded the corner to Tony’s cornered off section of the ER, his brother’s wrecked voice stopped him from announcing his presence. “I’m sorry,” he heard Vic say. Tony leaned against the wall just out of sight of the pair in a spot that allowed him to see a small sliver of the two of them through the curtain. “I shouldn’t haven’t yelled at you like that.”

“Vic, we’re a couple. We’re going to fight,” Kellin said, taking Vic’s hand.

“I know, but I still shouldn’t have yelled at you.  I know how much you hate that. I’m sorry,” Vic said, bringing their linked hands to his lips, and kissing the top of Kellin’s hand.  

"I forgive you," Kellin said, and tapped Vic’s hip until he got the message and slid over, making room for Kellin to climb into the hospital bed next to him. He rested his head on Vic’s shoulder and wrapped his free arm around Vic’s waist.

“Even if we’re mad at each other, or even if you break up with me, I don’t want you to feel like you can’t talk to me if you feel like hurting yourself. I’d drop everything for you, even my anger. We can always finish the fight later,” Kellin joked. “But seriously, I don’t want you cutting yourself over me.”

“It wasn’t just the fight,” Vic said, sneaking an arm under Kellin’s shoulder to pull him in closer, and pressing a kiss to the top of Kellin's head. “It’s just nothing is going right, it seems. I picked all the wrong classes at college. I’m pretty sure I’m failing one. I kind of hate college. It’s not what I want to do, but I don’t want to disappoint anyone.”

“I want you to tell me these things,” Kellin said. “You don’t have to hide anything from me. You don’t have to pretend you’re okay when you’re not. You don’t have to try so hard to be perfect around me. That’s what I’m for. I love every part of you, even the flaws. Especially the flaws. And I want to help you through your bad days as much as you help me through mine. And you’re not a disappointment, okay?  No one will think less of you if you drop out of college to pursue music. In fact, a lot of people would admire you for it, including me. It takes a lot of guts to follow your dreams. As for your parents, they’re pretty amazing, Vic. If music is what makes you happy, then I think they’ll be pretty damn proud of you for going after what you want.”

“You think?” Vic asked, peering down at Kellin shyly.

“I say let’s ask them next time we see them and when they prove me right, I’ll point and laugh at you and say ‘I told you so,’” Kellin said, resulting in a huff of laughter from Vic.

“Can we not tell them about this?” Vic asked.

“I promise not to tell them,” Kellin said. “But you have to promise me something.”

“Kellin, I can’t –”

Kellin cut him off with a quick peck to the lips. “I know you can’t. That’s not what I’m going to make you promise. I want you to promise to call me before and not after next time. I may not be able to talk you out of it, but we won’t know until we try. Even if I’m pissed at you or you’re pissed at me, promise to call me?”

“I can promise that,” Vic said with a soft smile, gazing down at Kellin with complete adoration, something Tony had never seen in his brother before. It made the guilt monster claw at his stomach again.

God, Tony was real dick sometimes.

Vic cupped Kellin’s face and kissed him. Tony’s eyes may be opening to his jerkishness, but he still had his duties as annoying younger brother to fulfill. So he jerked back the curtain just as their lips met, and yelled, “Surprise, motherfuckers!”

He felt a surge of affection towards Kellin as the younger boy turned to glare at him, throwing an arm over Vic’s chest to protect him. Vic rolled his eyes, too used to Tony’s antics at this point to bother. “Tony, language. This is a hospital.”

“So?” he said, taking the seat recently vacated by Kellin. Clearly uncomfortable in Tony’s presence, Kellin made a move to get up, but Tony gently pushed him back down. “You two look comfy together,” Tony said with a wink. “Don’t get up on my account.”

Kellin shot a confused look to Vic, who just shrugged.

“The nurse should be here soon with my discharge papers anyways,” Vic said, pulling Kellin back down with their interlaced hand, and throwing a leg over Kellin’s legs, physically holding him onto the bed after he tried to get up again.

Kellin smiled sweetly at Vic, leaving Tony feeling guilty yet again for being such a jerk.

*

As soon as they got home and got Vic settled on the couch, Kellin tried to bolt for the door only to have Vic snatch him by the arm.

“I have to go, Vic, please,” Kellin pleaded, prying Vic’s hand from around his arm. “You know how my step-father is.”

“All the more reason to stay the night,” Vic said, his eyes begging Kellin to stay.

“I can’t,” Kellin said, finally freeing himself from Vic’s grasp, only to have Vic’s other arm snake around his waist and pull him to his chest.

“Then let me talk to him and explain,” Vic said.

“It won’t make a difference,” Kellin sadly sad with a shake of his head. “Vic, please let me go.”

Vic sighed heavily, releasing his grip from Kellin’s waist. “Call me when you can, okay?” Vic said.

“Of course,” Kellin said, pecking him on the cheek before running for the door.

Tony stopped him just at the front door.

“Not you, too. I have to go.”

“I know, I know,” Tony said, though he didn’t understand why Kellin was in such a hurry. Whatever it was made Vic upset, though. “Thanks for what you did for Vic today. It took balls to stand up to me like that.”

“It was nothing,” Kellin said with a small shake of his head and a sad smile. “I’d do anything for him. But I really have to go now.” He pushed past Tony, and fled out the door.

When Kellin missed school the next day, Tony thought nothing of it. Even after Vic asked him if he’d seen Kellin, his expression turning troubled when Tony said he never showed for school, the pieces still didn’t quite click in Tony’s teenage preoccupied brain.

 


	2. Chapter 2

Tony may have warmed up to Kellin’s presence in the safety of his own home away from the vicious claws and blabbering mouths of the popular kids at his school, but that did not mean he was willing to risk his social stature in the teenage hierarchy quite yet for his brother’s boyfriend.

In the privacy of his living room, only when his friends weren’t around, Tony often hung out with Vic and Kellin, joking around with them, watching movies, fucking around in their makeshift music room, aka the garage, where Tony shredded on his guitar, Vic sang and played guitar, and Kellin sang along. They even often rode together to school in Vic’s car on the days Vic had an 8 am class.

But once their feet hit the land of teenage hellhole, they silently slipped back into their old roles as strangers. Occasionally, Tony would give Kellin a small wave from across the hallway, but that was the extent of their interaction. To be honest, though, Tony did not know how to change their school situation without exposing himself.

Then one day he had to stay after school to talk to his guidance counsellor. He was failing math … and English, and biology. The counselor talked on and on and on about his future, and getting into college, and how Tony really needed to put effort into school if he wanted to make something of his life. Complete utter bullshit in his opinion. Tony already knew what he wanted to do with his life, and that was shred on his guitar and make music. And he sure as hell didn’t need to know what an enzyme was or how to find x on a triangle to make that happen.  

He rolled his eyes as he left the counsellor’s office. He only promised to ‘try harder’ because they threatened to call his parents. Maybe Vic could lend him some of his old notes, homework, and tests if he still had them. Or more realistically, maybe Vic could help him come up with a plan to gently break the news to their parents that Tony was just barely going to pass high school if at all.

A loud metallic clang and the rattle of lockers stopped him in his tracks. He followed the sound down the hallway and peaked around the corner just in time to see Devon, the captain of the basketball team, one of the most popular guys in school and also a grade-A douchebag, shove Kellin into the lockers presumably for a second time. The jerk then latched onto the lapels of Kellin’s shirt, dragged him away from the lockers and shoved him to the ground. One other kid standing with Devon, some kid from the football team, he thought, snatched Kellin’s backpack and dumped the contents over Kellin’s head, causing one of Kellin’s heavy textbooks to smack off the top of his head. The two boys laughed as Devon dragged Kellin to his feet again, saying something to him that Tony was too far away to hear, before shoving Kellin again. This time, however, instead of merely falling to his hands and knees again, Kellin’s feet slipped on his notebook spread across the floor. Unable to get his hands up in time to stop himself, Kellin flew face first into the water fountain. Even Tony could hear the sickening crack as Kellin’s face smashed into the metal surface.

Kellin went down hard. Freaked they may have caused serious damage, Devon and the other kid took off running down the other end of the hallway.

Tony watched as Kellin lied on the floor for a moment, a hand pressed over the eye that collided with the water fountain before he slowly sat up, still holding his face. The other kid breathed heavily for a moment, before staggering to his feet and gathering his things.

Tony slipped soundlessly away without so much as a glance back.

With a heavy heart, Tony made the ten minute walk home from school, knowing he should turn around and help, but never making the right move.

The moment Tony waltzed into his home, Vic rushed out like a maniac, snatching his keys, tossing on the first pair of shoes he could find, and running to his car. He came back 10 minutes later with Kellin, his arm wrapped around the younger teen’s shoulder. Kellin still had a hand pressed over the damaged side of his face, and though his gaze was fixed on the floor, Tony could tell by the shake of his shoulders and the sound of his sniffles that he was crying.

“What happened?” he asked Vic, though his stomach clenched uncomfortably.

Vic gave him a look that clearly said ‘fuck off,’ but Tony followed them into the kitchen anyways. He hung back in the doorway as Vic settled Kellin on one of the stools by the island. Only briefly did Vic leave Kellin’s side to grab a bag of ice, wrapping it in a hand towel, before situating himself between Kellin’s legs.

“Can I see?” Vic gently asked Kellin, trying to catch Kellin’s eyes.

Kellin shook his head no, refusing to meet Vic’s gaze.

“I know it hurts, babe,” Vic said, brushing his free hand through Kellin’s hair, and pressing a kiss to Kellin’s forehead. “Let me help.”

Slowly, Kellin dropped his hand. Tony hissed at the same time Vic did at the sight of Kellin’s face. His eye was an explosion of red, purple, and black and nearly swollen shut. The swelling tapered off to the right of his eye, disappearing into his hairline and extended down to the top of his cheek bone. Being a rather reckless individual at times, Tony knew real pain – like that of a broken bone, or the time both he and Vic thought he broke his back after a failed stage dive – and that bruise looked _awful_. Discretely, he snapped a picture of the bruise with his cellphone.

Kellin flinched away as Vic pressed the ice to his eye, but Vic had anticipated the flinch and held his head steady. Tony quietly backed out of the kitchen knowing he had overstepped his boundaries when Kellin buried his face into Vic’s chest and his older brother wrapped an arm around the back of Kellin’s head.

Tony was a pretty self-confident person.

But in that moment, he felt like the biggest piece of shit on the planet.

-

“Hey, is he okay?” Tony asked Vic sometime later, after Vic managed to get Kellin to lie down in his room.

“I don’t know,” Vic said, his shoulders slumping. “I wanted to take him to the hospital to get checked out for a concussion, but he’s refusing to go.”

Tony heard Kellin’s skull crack against the fountain. It was _sickening,_ and no one’s body parts should ever make that kind of noise.

“You should try to convince him to get checked out. He cracked his head pretty hard against that fountain,” Tony said without thinking.

Vic’s expression turned stone cold in an instant “How did you know that?”

“I, uh, I … Well, you see –”

“You watched it happen, didn’t you?”

“I, uh –”

“You what, Tony? Did you join in? Did you laugh at him, too?”

“No, I just …”

“Walked away? That’s not any better than participating,” Vic said, crossing his arms with a shake of his head. Tony hung his own head in shame. “Is your stupid reputation really more important than the man I love?”

Tony stared hard at his feet, kicking at the loose threads of the worn beige carpet.

“Who was it?” Vic asked, when Tony did not reply. He had nothing to say that would make this better.

“Devon,” Tony mumbled, feeling his cheeks heat up with shame. “And some kid from the football team.”

Vic bitterly laughed. “So the same people who used to bully me.”

Tony flinched, his shoulders sagging. He never knew Vic was bullied like that. “I’m sorry.”

“I’m not the person you should be apologizing to,” Vis said, and turned to leave.

“Are you mad at me?” Tony asked in a small voice.

His brother didn’t even turn around to look at him. “Mad? I’m just … I’m really disappointed in you, Tony. I thought you were better than this.”

Tony felt 10 inches tall at the moment, and lower than he’d ever felt before.

He knew he had to make this right.

He just didn’t know how.

*

Tony stayed awake all night thinking of what he had done, and what he could do to make it better.

Vic was right. He wanted to be better than this, he _was_ better than this. He wasn’t the kind of person who walked away just because he was afraid of what others would think or the unwanted attention it might cause. Besides, Vic was the most important person in his life, and the only opinion that really mattered to him, and he let him down.

He wanted to make his brother proud.

In the morning, Vic kept Kellin hidden away in his room, so Tony walked to school alone. He marched straight to his guidance counsellor’s office.

“Tony,” Mr. Balwin said, looking surprised, but happy to see him. “Did you want to talk more about what we spoke of yesterday? I know some great colleges that if you brought up your grades a little would be –”

“I’m not here to talk about that,” Tony cut the older man off. “I’m here to talk about the bullying problem here at our school.”

“Bullying?” Mr. Balwin said with a frown. “I wasn’t aware we had a problem. No one has come to me.”

Tony rolled his eyes. Teachers always said stupid stuff like that. “Of course they didn’t,” Tony said, taking the seat opposite of Mr. Balwin’s.

“Are you getting bullied, Tony?”

Tony rolled his eyes again. “No,” he said, pulling up the picture he’d taken of Kellin yesterday and sliding his phone over the desk to Mr. Balwin. “I saw Devon from the basketball team do that to his face yesterday.”

“These are very serious accusations,” Mr. Balwin said, handing his phone back to him. “I need to speak to Kellin –”

“No, I don’t want Kellin involved in this,” Tony said. “Besides he’s not here today for obvious reasons. But there is a way to prove it. It happened in the East B hallway just after I left your office yesterday. Everybody knows there are cameras in that hallway because of the theft in the janitorial closet and the graffiti problem. Just watch the footage. Also, the dude sells weed out of his locker.”

That last part wasn’t necessarily true. He may have, possibly, potentially talked the kid who _did_ sell weed out of her locker into setting Devon up. The girl, Lindsey, was all too happy to help, considering Devon had a habit of slapping girls on the ass and making sexist, inappropriate jokes. He almost felt guilty for being entirely responsible for giving the guy a juvy record, but Kellin’s face was a mess, and he knew Devon would get nothing but a slap on the wrist for that.

Plus, no one messed with his brother and got away with it.

_No one._

Tony fled the tiny office before Mr. Balwin could ask him more.

By 4th period, the gossip finally trickled down to Tony that some kid named Collin, presumably the dude from the football team, was suspended, Devon expelled, and that both Tony and Kellin –though Tony doesn’t know how anyone knew Kellin was involved – were responsible. Instead of the instant backlash Tony expected, the school collectively cheered with the exception of a few members of the basketball team. Lindsey high-fived him in the hallway, a few people even clapped him on the back and thanked him, and Kelsey, the super hot girl on the volleyball team he’d been crushing on since he broke up with Felicia, even winked at him during lunch.

Plus, it enhanced his reputation as the school’s bad boy, keeping the general population far away from him.

“You’re the school’s new hero,” his friend, Geoff, told him when they met up after school.

“I was just doing what I should have done a long time ago,” Tony said, unable to accept the praise or revel in his new found social status. He didn’t deserve it.

When he got home from school later that day, Vic and Kellin were still holed up in Vic’s room. Kellin didn’t come out at all, except to use the bathroom, he presumed. He only saw Vic once to head to the kitchen to make them both sandwiches. Vic didn’t necessarily ignore him, but his shoulder was ice cold.

“I’m really fucking sorry,” Tony said, trapping his brother in the kitchen. “I know it doesn’t make up for what I did, but I made sure Devon won’t bother him ever again. I just … You were right. I am better than that, and I want to be the kind of brother you can be proud of, like how I’m proud of you.”

Vic’s face softened, and to his surprise, his brother hugged him. “I’ll always be proud of you, Tony. No matter what stupid shit you do.”

Tony Perry-Fuentes did not cry, okay? He was tough, he had tattoos already, he was practically a _man._ But in that moment, he came deceptively close.

_One apology accepted,_ he thought. Now, he just needed to figure out how to apologize properly to Kellin.


	3. Chapter 3

**Notes for the Chapter:**

> I'm back! For clarification, the name of Tony's two friends in this story are Geoff and Matty. As I wrote this story, I did, in fact, imagine Geoff from Waterparks and Matty Mullins from Memphis May Fire in the roles as Tony's friends, but you do not have to. You can imagine whoever you want to in those roles. Matty's girlfriend can also be Jenna from Tonight Alive if you want it to be. I did not edit the last few parts of this chapter very much, so if they seem a bit rushed, that's why.

“Hey, Kellin,” Tony said when he saw Kellin at school the next day. Tony heard Kellin sneak out of the house after Vic had fallen asleep – which was weird, but hey, who was he to question it – but he had been too much of a chicken shit to talk to him.

Today was a new day, though, and Tony was not the type of person who let anything keep him down for long, especially when it was his own fault.

As he approached Kellin’s locker, he got a better look at the other teen’s face. His eye appeared less swollen, but the bruise had darkened since he last saw it to a garish shade of purple and blue, extending even farther down his cheek and up past his eyebrow.

The other eye, however, looked like a deer caught in the headlights, which made the guilt monster in his stomach surge to life. Tony shook it away, and smiled brightly at the other teen.

“Uh, h-hi,” Kellin said, his good eye darting around, scanning the hallway.

The guilt monster clawed its way up his throat, but he stamped it down forcefully. He should probably give a name to the monster, considering how often it reared its ugly head. He was thinking Dan. Yeah, Dan was a good name.

“Have I ever introduced you to my friend, Geoff?” Tony brightly said.

Kellin’s expression immediately shut down, switching from scared and confused to completely blank in a second. “Vic put you up to this, didn’t he?” he said with a sigh, shaking his head. “It’s okay. Really. You don’t have to do this. I’ll even lie to Vic for you, and tell him whatever you want me to,” he said, shutting his locker and turning away.

Tony stopped him with a hand on his shoulder, only to feel Kellin tense beneath his touch.

“Vic didn’t tell me to do anything. Honest,” he added at Kellin’s skeptical look. “We’re friends outside of school, right? It’s stupid that we act like strangers at school. I want you to meet my other friends,” Tony said, grabbing Kellin’s wrist and dragging him towards Geoff’s locker without waiting for a response. “Geoff, my man,” he said, standing behind Kellin like a proud father with both hands on Kellin's shoulders so he couldn’t run away. “This is my friend Kellin.”

“What’s up?” Geoff said, holding his hand up for a fist bump, which Kellin hesitantly accepted. Geoff was one of the chilliest dudes he knew, and therefore wouldn’t ask about Kellin’s eye unlike his other close friend Matty. He knew with the right push he could make Kellin and Geoff friends. “You’re that kid in my art class, aren’t you?”

“Maybe,” Kellin said with a shrug, averting his gaze.

“Yeah, you painted that picture of that couple under a willow tree. That was amazing, dude.”

“Thanks,” Kellin said, with a slight blush.

“Maybe you can give me a few pointers. I’m pretty sure Ms Thompson hates me.”

“I don’t think she has the same appreciation for the aesthetics of the male genitalia as you,” Kellin teased.

“What?” Geoff said, looking more impressed than annoyed.

“He means stops drawing dicks on everything, you twat,” Tony said with a laugh, playfully pushing Geoff into his locker.

“Where’s the fun in that?” Geoff asked, waggling his eyebrows as he nudged Kellin in the ribs.

To his surprise, Kellin actually chuckled. “Her reactions to your work _are_ quite amusing,” Kellin said.

“I know, right? She should love me for bringing entertainment to this dull, lifeless hellhole,” Geoff said with his ‘bitch, I’m flawless’ attitude that had Tony shaking his head fondly at Geoff. “Tony, don’t look now, but Kelsey is eyeing you like a lioness who just spotted her prey. Act cool, she’s coming over.”

“Shit, how does my hair look? Is my outfit okay? What do I do?” Tony said, running his fingers through his hair, and attempting to straighten out his wrinkled shirt that he snatched off his floor this morning and he’s pretty sure he’s worn at least four times now without it being washed.

“I said act cool,” Geoff laughed. Even Kellin was trying to suppress his laughter. Pssh, like Kellin had any room to talk. He still practically tripped over his own feet whenever he was around Vic.

“Tony,” Kelsey said in a voice as sweet as his first tattoo. He turned around only to come face to face with the most beautiful girl in the school in his opinion. At 5’ 10’, Kelsey nearly matched him in height, which he found both intimidating and beyond sexy. She had legs for days, and long silky brown hair. But what he liked most about her was her confidence. She dominated on the volleyball court, and took shit from no one in school. She wasn’t the most popular because of it, but people respected her.

Tony had had a crush on her since the first time he saw her in detention. Tony had been there for skipping class (but if they knew  _why_ he skipped, they definitely would have expelled him) and Kelsey was there for slugging a boy for slapping her ass. 

Kelsey now stood so close to Tony her chest almost touched him and stared him dead in the eyes. “I heard you were responsible for Devon’s expulsion,” she said with a slight smirk on her shiny red lips.

“Kellin, too,” Tony pathetically stammered in response.

“Guy was a real asshole,” she said, never once breaking eye contact with him. “I turned him in for sexual harassment, but you know how the patriarchy is.”

Tony nodded dumbly along. No, he did not know how the’ patriarchy is,’ but at this moment he was willing to agree to anything Kelsey said.

“I really appreciate what you did,” she said, lowering her voice. “So I think you should take me on a date this Saturday.”

“Uh, yeah, awesome, yeah,” Tony said, cringing at his own awkwardness. He was usually a lot smoother with the ladies than this.

Kelsey grabbed his hand, and wrote her number in pen along his wrist. “Call me,” she said, before sauntering away, Tony staring after her in shock. 

The uncontrollable laughter of his friends broke his concentration.

“Kellin, too?” Kellin said, clutching his side as he laughed.

“Uh, uh, uh yeah, awesome?” Geoff nearly doubled over with his laughter.

“Wait until I tell Vic about this!”

“Shut up,” Tony said, his cheeks burning.

But Tony was not ashamed.

Because this stud had a date with the hottest girl in school.

*

If Kellin wasn’t 100% gay and in love with his brother, Tony might have been a tiny bit jealous of him, because his girlfriend totally loved Kellin more than him.

She snatched Kellin right up like the last slice of pizza, enfolded him against her breasts (that he couldn’t even appreciate like Tony did, jeez) and declared Kellin not only the most adorable thing on the planet, but her new best friend. Together, Kellin and Kelsey started hanging out more with Geoff’s girlfriend, Kimmy, and Matty’s girlfriend, Jenna. Unsure how to handle the new found attention, Kellin just kind of went with it. As Kellin told him later, he didn’t mind that they practically forced him to hang out with them. They were pretty cool people and fun to be around, even if Kellin had to remind them occasionally that he was, in fact, still a guy, and that while some guys might be into trying on makeup with them or going to the salon, he was not one of them.

Almost overnight the bullying stopped, too. The school had a big assembly, declaring themselves a bully-free zone and a safe space for everyone. The principal threatened to expel anyone caught bullying other students. Almost everyone’s eyes turned to Kellin and the giant bruise on his face, but Kelsey’s cold glare kept anyone from saying anything to him. A few kids on the basketball team tried to get revenge on Kellin after the school expelled Devon anyways, but Jenna – who had a brown belt in karate – gave the leader of the bully pack a bloody nose after he called Kellin a faggot. The pack kind of disbanded after that, and no one dared pick on Kellin again. Or at least that he saw. Though Tony had his suspicions otherwise, because Kellin still showed up to school with random bruises every now and again that had no explanation.

“What do you think, babe?” Kelsey asked him from across the lunch table, snapping him out of his daze.

“What?” Tony asked, glancing at Geoff and Matty to clue him in. They both just shrugged their shoulders. They were a useless lot. If Kellin were here, he would have filled Tony in.

“You weren’t listening were you?” she said frowning at him.

“Uh, sorry,” he sheepishly said.

“Stop staring at my boobs and pay attention,” she said snapping her fingers in front of his face. “I was saying I think we should go on a group date this Saturday. Kimmy has got the perfect date for Kellin,” she squealed.

“Actually, Kellin’s already –”

“Kellin, sweetie,” Kelsey called as the other teen finally walked into the lunchroom. Even though it wasn’t really a problem anymore, Kellin still hid in his classroom for a few minutes before heading to lunch to avoid the other students. Old habits die hard, he guessed. “I saved you a seat,” Kelsey said, patting the seat next to her.

Tony grumbled and sunk lower in his seat. Totally not jealous. Nope, not at all.

“I was just telling everyone that I think we should all go out for a group date this Saturday. What do you think?”

“That’d be pretty cool,” Kellin said with a shrug, as he plopped down next to Kelsey with his paper lunch bag. “I’d have to ask my –”

“We’ve got the prefect date for you,” Kimmy blurted out. “I met him at track training camp over the summer. His name is Eric, and he’s really sweet,” she said, pulling up a picture of him on her phone and sliding it over towards Kellin.

“He’s cute,” Kellin said. Both Kimmy and Jenna squealed. “But I’m already dating somebody.”

“Oh,” Kimmy said and deflated, but perked up almost immediately. “Anybody we know?” she asked, nudging Kellin’s shoulder with her own.

“I don’t know,” Kellin said, staring down at his untouched lunch.

“Does he go here?” Jenna asked.

“Um, not anymore,” Kellin said, tearing apart his sandwich and turning it into crumbs instead of eating it.

Sensing his discomfort, Kelsey cut off whatever Jenna was going to ask and said, “Why don’t you ask him if he wants to come out with us this Saturday?” she asked, gently nudging Kellin with her shoulder.

“I will,” Kellin said, shooting her a grateful smile.

“Oh, wait,” Geoff suddenly said. “Aren’t you dating –” He cut off with a gasp, lurching forward in his seat. 

Kellin shot Geoff a murderous glare, one Tony didn’t know someone as mild mannered as Kellin could pull off, and subtly shook his head no.

Tony let it drop for now, but something just didn’t sit right in his stomach.

If Kellin was ashamed of Vic, then they were going to have a very, very long talk later.

Because his brother deserved better than that.

-

“What the fuck?” Tony said, grabbing Kellin and dragging him to the side of the school as they both made their way out after the last bell. Vic was supposed to pick them up after school, and he would not like it at all if he saw Tony accosting his boyfriend and would definitely interrupt before Tony could get the answers he needed. “Why didn’t you tell them you were dating Vic? Are you ashamed of him or something? Because if you are, I’m telling you nicely right now to get lost?”

“What? How could you think that?” Kellin said, his voice tinged with anger. “Vic’s the best thing that’s ever happened to me,” he added in a softer tone.

“Then why didn’t you tell them Vic is your boyfriend? Why did you stop Geoff from telling them?”

“Because it’s not my place to out _your_ brother to other people!” Kellin hissed.

“What does Vic care? He doesn’t even go here anymore,” Tony said.

“But you still do,” Kellin said, glancing over Tony’s shoulder. “And I didn’t exactly see you jumping in to tell them.”

“I tried to tell Kelsey , but she …” Tony suddenly stopped as Kellin’s words sunk in, understanding exactly what Kellin was implying. His face slipped into a frown. “Wait. You think _I’m_ ashamed of Vic?”

Kellin took a step back, arms self-consciously wrapping around his stomach. “No,” he mumbled, his previous anger long gone as he returned to the shy, meek Kellin that he knew.

“Did Vic say something to you?” Tony pressed. Kellin’s sudden change in demeanor was awful suspicious.

“No,” Kellin said again, staring up at Tony with an unreadable expression.

Tony felt his shoulders slump. Had he somehow given Kellin or his brother the impression that he wasn’t supportive of them? Yeah, he never really talked to Vic about his sexuality, _and_ he had been pretty rude to Kellin in the beginning, and he didn’t stick up for Kellin when he was being bullied, and he wasn’t always the greatest most supportive brother ever, but … “I don’t care if Vic is gay. I don’t care if the whole school knows it, and I don’t care what they think about it.  I’m proud of him for being who he is, and I hope he’s proud of himself, too.”

Someone clearing their throat startled him. He spun around to see his brother standing behind him.

“Everything okay here?” Vic asked, but the small smile on his face said he’d heard everything Tony just said.

Tony stalked over to his brother and hugged him. “I love you, bro,” he said, and then just as quickly shoved Vic away. “Good talk. Let’s go home.”

-

“So,” Tony said, shoving a handful of chips into his mouth almost as soon as they got home. He was a growing young boy, okay? He needed the nourishment of the delightfully wonderful Cool Ranch Doritos. “Kelsey wants to go on a group date. You in?”

“Was that English?” Vic said, giving Tony an exasperated look as Tony purposely chewed with his mouth open just to annoy his brother.

“Kimmy tried to set me up on a date,” Kellin explained, his small smile tight and uncomfortable. “When I told her I was already dating somebody, Kelsey suggested a group date this Saturday,” he said, his voice going soft at the end as he shrugged. 

“She probably just wants proof that you’re real,” Tony said to Vic, who punched him.

“Hey,” Tony protested, shoving another handful of chips in his mouth.

“You’re a pig,” Vic said, as Tony made it a point to chew as loudly as possible.

“Wr don’t have to go,” Kellin said. “I can’t imagine it would be very fun for a college kid like you to hang out with a bunch of high schoolers.”

“There is one high schooler I _definitely_ want to hang out with,” Vic cheekily said. He threw an arm around Kellin’s shoulder and pecked him on the cheek. Kellin blushed and bit his lip, smiling shyly at Vic.

Tony rolled his eyes at them. “Jesus, do you two ever stop?”

“I think it’ll be fun. I say we go,” Vic said, completely ignoring him. How rude.

"Okay," Kellin quietly said. "If that's what you want." 

*

As soon as Kellin told the girls his boyfriend had agreed to the group date, they were off. Ideas were tossed around, everything from a concert, to a drive-thru movie, to the pier, to a trip to the moon. Who knew? Tony stopped paying attention and let them have at it. If it was up to him, nothing would get planned at all.

But when Kelsey showed up to his place on Saturday in a sun bonnet and a lilac summer dress with her bikini straps peaking out from underneath, Tony knew he should have paid more attention. This … was not going to go over well.

“Hey baby,” Kelsey said, sliding out of her father’s shiny white Escalade. “The girls and I decided on the beach. The others are going to meet us there.”

“Oh, uh, the beach?”

“What’s wrong? I thought you loved the beach?”

“I do, but V—, Kellin’s boyfriend is not exactly a big fan,” he explained. Tony remember a time when his older loved the beach. They went there all the time when they were younger, wasting away their weekends and summers on the shores, catching some rays, swimming, surfing, fishing, you name it. But at some point, Vic had stopped going to the beach entirely, though Tony did not know why, and always turned Tony down when he suggested they go there.   

“Oh? You know Kellin’s boyfriend?”

“You could say that,” Tony said, leading her into his house with a hand on the small of her back.

Kellin and Vic were lounging on the couch waiting for them, their sides pressed together.

“Vic! It’s so good to see you again. Wait, you’re Kellin’s boyfriend?”

“Surprise,” Kellin somewhat awkwardly said.

“This is fantastic,” Kelsey said, sounding far too excited about the revelation. “I always thought you two would make a cute couple.”

“So where are we going?” Vic asked, sliding an arm around Kellin’s shoulders and leaning back into the couch. “Tony never said.”

“The beach,” Kelsey practically squealed.

Tony saw the smile slip off Vic’s face as Kellin’s eyes widened in shock. For whatever reason Vic did not want to go, Kellin knew why. The thought miffed Tony a little.

“Oh, the beach?” Kellin said, voice as unenthusiastic as Tony’s was a moment ago. Kelsey shot a confused glance at Tony, but did not bring it up. “We’re not dressed for the beach. So we’re just gonna go to Vic’s room and get changed.” Kellin grabbed a suddenly somber Vic and dragged him upstairs.

“Wait here a second, babe,” Tony said. “I’m gonna … go help.”

Tony sprinted up the stairs and tip-toed down the hallway to Vic’s room. He pressed his ear against the closed door. He needed to know what was going on. He wanted to know why Vic did not want to go to the beach. This was for his brother’s own good, he told himself, and not because he might have been a tiny bit jealous that Kellin knew why and maybe thought Kellin could not handle it on his own.

“We don’t have to go. I can tell Kelsey I have a migraine, or I can fake a family emergency. Or I can tell them that we have to stop by my place to get swim trunks and then we can just not show up. We can just hang here instead,” he heard Kellin say. 

“No, no … Let’s go,” Vic’s muffled voice responded. "You’ve never been to the beach before.”

“There will be other chances.”

“Kells,” Vic said, and there was a long pause. “I really, really appreciate what you’re doing for me right now, but we should go. It’ll be fun. I’ll be okay.”

“If you’re sure,” Kellin said, though he sounded hesitant.

“I’m sure,” Vic said. “I’m so sure I even have a spare pair of swim trunks you can borrow.”

Tony made a silent retreat. For whatever reason Vic did not want to go, Tony was not going to get the answer right now.


End file.
